HOUSTON, Texas — The grand jurors who are hearing the evidence in the Sandra Bland cases, and the special prosecutors who were appointed to serve in the case, are racially diverse and include two black special prosecutors, and three blacks and one Hispanic on the grand jury.
The Round Mound of Rebound jumped in the political paint and threw wild elbows last night on TNT. Donald Trump, Twitter, and even sister network CNN took shots from basketball commentator Charles Barkley, who called supporters of the billionaire candidate “losers.”
The Supreme Court of the United States issued a per curium decision today reversing a 2014 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit opinion holding that a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper was not entitled to be granted qualified immunity. The officer had used deadly force to stop a driver in a high-speed car chase. Justice Sotomayor chastised the court for allowing a “shoot first, think later approach to policing.”
A black man named Greg Barnes, Jr., was recently pulled over by a white police officer for speeding. The interaction between the men is going viral online, for all the right reasons.
On September 19, Phoenix freeway shooting suspect Leslie Allen Merritt, Jr., made his first court appearance and told the judge that police arrested the wrong guy.
The U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) chief and the assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs expressed concern about China’s declining influence over volatile and nuclear-armed North Korea.
A West Texas biology teacher who was accused of being drunk at school and was subsequently arrested at school for public intoxication has now resigned from her post. School was barely back in session from the time the inebriated educator was taken into custody to when she turned in her resignation letter.
Anthony Graves spend 16 years in prison, 12 of them on death row, for a crime he did not commit. The prosecutor who sent him there has now been disbarred.
A military official from Qatar and his wife were indicted in San Antonio Wednesday, charged with two counts of engaging in forced labor.
Pro-life legislation making it more difficult for Texas judges to bypass parental notification when their children are seeking an abortion is gaining speed in the Lone Star State. The bill is sponsored by Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) and strengthens judicial bypass laws. After four hours of debate on the Texas Senate floor on Memorial Day, it received preliminary approval by a 20-11 vote margin. The bill now goes to a third reading as amended on Tuesday, May 26th.
Leaders of open carry groups were confident that House Bill 910 would proceed through the Senate State Affairs committee on Monday; however, leaders of these groups vary as to their confidence of the open carry bill’s eventual passage. The leaders
The Texas Senate passed a bill on Tuesday which would protect the rights of certain religious organizations and pastors to refuse participation in marriage ceremonies which violate their sincerely-held religious beliefs. The Governor said he will sign a bill that offers such protection to pastors and ministers.
A bill is set to go before the Texas State House of Representatives Monday that would protect individuals from body cavity searches by peace officers unless a search warrant has been issued by a magistrate. The bill, authored by Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston), is designed to address incidents in Texas where law enforcement officers conducted body cavity searches during a traffic stop. The bill, H.B. 324, defines “body cavity search” as an inspection that is conducted of a person’s anal or vaginal cavity in any manner.
AUSTIN, Texas – Members of the Texas Senate passed a border security measure that significantly raises the level of spending in the state’s effort to secure the Texas border with Mexico. The bill (SB 3) by Senator Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) passed with massive bipartisan support in a vote of 26-4.
A Democrat Texas legislator has filed a bill that would allow the removal of life support from a pregnant woman. The bill would repeal section 166.049 of the Texas Health and Safety Code providing that a person may not withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment from a pregnant patient. The law is entitled “Marlise’s Law.” Marlise Munoz was removed from life support when she was 23-weeks pregnant. She was kept on life support for eight weeks before life support was terminated.
The prospect of having non-Texans manage the Alamo has many Texans seeing red. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush released a statement late last week saying the Alamo belongs to Texans. He also told Texans there would be “a nationwide search for a new management company.”
There was no shortage of “black lives matter” protests this past weekend as activists in Oakland and Berkeley sought to link their cause to the life of late civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. Close to 150 #BlackLivesMatter protesters took
